Shelby running back Brett Thompson picks up a first down during Friday night's nonconference win over Lexington at W.W. Skiles Field. / DANIEL MELOGRANA/NEWS JOURNAL

Written by

CARL HUNNELL

News Journal

SHELBY -- It took a community to save W.W. Skiles Field from a massive flood less than two weeks ago.

It took the Shelby defense to save Friday night's game against Lexington.

The Whippets staged three goal-line stands to preserve a 21-14 win over Lexington before an emotional, overflow crowd.

Shelby coach Chris Solis said his players fed off the energy from the stands.

"I think it played a major role tonight," he said. "Our community has been through a lot and has shown they can put up a good fight. It was the same with our kids. We battled for 48 minutes tonight."

Shelby (2-0), which led 14-0 in the first quarter, didn't allow the Minutemen (1-1) an easy yard -- but really got stingy in the red zone. Shelby held Lexington to 24 yards on 14 plays in the shadow of their own end zone.

Lexington tailback Brad Gallik, who set a school record with 279 yards against Ontario last week, was limited to 95 on 26 carries Friday night (3.6 yards a carry).

"I am so proud of our defense tonight," Solis said. "(Gallik) is a good back, but he didn't get hit last week. We wanted to show him what a hard, physical football game was going to be like."

The Whippets stuffed Gallik twice on short yardage fourth down plays inside the five and stiffened after a Lexington eight-minute, 19-play, 56-yard drive that resulted in a missed 28-yard field goal at the end of the first half.

To Solis, the physical defensive stands started with the right mental approach.

"It's just the mentality that we're going to beat you up front. We're gonna root-hog and die. We're gonna get under your shoulder pads. If we get under your shoulder pads, you're not going to have any running lanes, I don't care what kind of running back you are," he said.

Lexington coach B.J. Payne, whose offense was never forced to punt, also credited the Shelby defense.

"They attack well defensively and we knew their defense kind of leads their team. They cut our offensive lineman every time and our linemen and backs had a hard time getting to the second level (of the defense)," Payne said.

The Lexington coach said he cautioned his team the start of the game would be crucial.

"We told the kids the first six to eight minutes that the Shelby players would be riding on that emotion from the community," he said. "We told them we just needed to weather that storm and we'd be OK."

Instead, Shelby scored on its two possessions. A 74-yard, seven-play drive ended with an 11-yard run by Brett Thompson. Lexington fumbled the ball on its first snap and Shelby went 48 yards on 11 plays to score on a 10-yard run by Cody Baker.

The Whippets hurt the Minutemen early with option pitches from quarterback Scott Baird and quick sweeps.

"We saw on film that Ontario tried to run up the middle and up the middle. That's where the heart of that defense is," Solis said. "We knew we wanted to attack the outside. We have three different option plays we run and the kids executed them well."

Lexington, which had a 244-209 edge in total yards, battled back in the second half. Gallik ended a 65-yard, 9-play drive with a 3-yard TD run to open the third quarter. That closed the gap to 14-7.

Shelby countered with a 12-play, 80-yard drive of its own, ending with a 6-yard run by Chad Coward with 3:44 left in the period, pushing the margin to 21-7.

The Minutemen rallied and had a third-and-goal from the Shelby six-inch line. But Lexington was flagged for delay of game when the officials didn't see Payne on the field requesting a timeout. The penalty pushed the Minutemen back to the 6 and two runs failed to reach the end zone.

Lexington did score with 7:32 remaining after a Shelby fumble. Quarterback Courtney Avery hit wide receiver Tyler Dickson with an 8-yard TD pass. But the Minutemen never threatened again.

"We had plenty of chances," Payne said. "Our kids fought their tails off. Our first goal this season was to make the playoffs and then win the Ohio Cardinal Conference title. That hasn't been taken from us in week two of the season."